"He'd be humbled by the people helping contribute to a statue, which show how much he means to them."

The former steelworker, from the Pill area of Newport, was widely regarded as one of the most exciting and under-rated heavyweights of the 1980s after beating Swansea's Neville Meade to the British title in September 1983.

After his victory over Meade at St David's Hall in Cardiff, Pearce said: "I did it for Newport."

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionArchive: Welsh boxer Pearce wins British title

Boxing fans from as far afield as Canada and Bermuda helped support the fund-raising effort.

A committee organised concerts, fun days and a sponsored 'sleep on a park bench' to help raise cash to pay for the statue, which was created by award-winning sculptor Laury Dizengremel.

"The sleepover was because David had to sleep on a park bench before his European title with Lucian Rodriguez in France in 1984," explained Luke, a 36-year-old RAF officer.

Despite sleeping on a park bench and suffering a broken hand, Pearce knocked down defending champion Rodriguez twice before losing on points.

Image caption
David Pearce is the only fighter from Newport to win British boxing's heavyweight title

He was linked with big fights against Buster Douglas and Leon Spinks, but his career was cut short when brain scan irregularities led to his boxing licence being revoked by the British Boxing Board of Control.